


Wait For Me

by theskiddlyboop



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben is Eurydice, F/M, Genderbending, Hadestown AU, I dunno she probably is but I kept seeing both characters at once so I left it vague, Inspired by Hadestown, Inspired by Orpheus and Eurydice (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Persephone is probably Padmé, Rey is Orpheus, alternate endings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:14:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28173759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theskiddlyboop/pseuds/theskiddlyboop
Summary: "It's a sad song, but we sing it anyway. 'Cause here's the thing... To know how it ends and still begin to sing it again, as if it might turn out this time? I learned that from a friend of mine."A Reylo / Hadestown AU with 3 different endings.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	1. It's A Sad Song

**Author's Note:**

  * For [A_Spark_Of_Hope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Spark_Of_Hope/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What if... they didn't make it?

Her boots are sturdy and have always carried her from one place to the next without fault or discomfort; but this journey is unlike any other. Her feet feel like lead and, even though she knows it’s not real, she swears that every sharp rock upon the path pierces her soul.

There is precious little light here. Although her eyesight has adjusted to the dark, she is still terrified.

She wishes desperately and not for the first time that he was beside her, her hand - so much smaller than his - was engulfed in the warmth of his palm. But this is the game she has to play.

_It’s a trap._

_It’s a trial._

A tear courses down her cheek as she feels the doubt creeping in. 

~

Ben marches along in the dark, his eyes fixed on the back of Rey’s head, her three buns bobbing slightly with each step. He smiles fondly, knowing that she wears her hair this way whenever she’s on a mission, determined and focused.

It’s not his favourite look though. He loves it when her hair is down, soft, silky, falling just past her shoulders. He can remember the first time he had kissed her goodnight, and how he had threaded his fingers through her chestnut locks. He had held her close and it felt like he was home.

He loves her. He loves her and she loves him. She had fought her way to the underworld to find him. She had come for him.

She had come for _him_.

No one had ever done that before.

He is silent, walking behind her. This was part of the conditions of his release. Yet he focuses all of his attention to the back of her head, as if he could psychically push his thoughts and feelings into her mind.

_Rey, I’m right here. I’m right behind you. And I have been all along._

_I love you. You can do this._

_I believe in you, in us -_

And then he’s no longer looking at her hair, at her back.

Her eyes are on his, staring at him in shock, horror, despair.

She turned around. She has turned around.

The trial is over. They have failed.

Cold floods through both of them, the realization sinking in: they will never see each other again.

His breath leaves him in a gasp.

“It’s you…” she breathes.

“It’s me,” he replies, shakily.

There is a tugging sensation at his shoulder blades, like someone or something was pulling him backwards. Pulling him back to the underworld.

“Rey,” he says, trying to sound reassuring. The pull is almost impossible to ignore now.

“Ben…” Her sob breaks up the sound of his name.

And then he is gone.

~

Rey slowly sinks to her knees, tears cascading down her cheeks, her mouth parted in shock.

She stares down at the spot where he had stood. He’d been there, behind her, all along. The whole time. It hadn’t been a trick. She can’t even remember deciding to look back. She only remembers the doubt clawing and cloying in her mind, whispering poison.

And now Ben is gone. Forever.

She sits there, halfway up the stairs and inches from the archway that would have brought them both back to the world of the living. The sun rises steadily, warming her back, but she feels none of its warmth.

She sees none of its light.


	2. It's An Old Song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What if... they could say goodbye?

“It’s you…” she breathes.

“It’s me,” he replies, shakily.

There is a tugging sensation at his shoulder blades, like someone or something was pulling him backwards. Pulling him back to the underworld.

But nearly as soon as it came, the feeling disappears. Instead, Ben feels a warm and reassuring hand in its place. Turning quickly to his side, he sees a mane of dark curls, spotted with delicate white flowers. She is beautiful, but sad. The goddess looks at him with a profound sense of compassion.

“I’m sorry,” she says, in a low and gentle voice. “I cannot alter the deal you made. It was binding.”

Ben knows this, but the idea of never seeing Rey again throws everything in his world out of balance.

The goddess looks to Rey. “But I have bought you some time,” she sighs. “Time to say goodbye.”

“How-” Ben rasps, all of what he is feeling caught in his throat, ringing in his ears. “How long?”

“Not long,” the goddess says solemnly. “Moments.” She pushes Ben’s shoulder. “So use them.”

And then, without fully understanding how it came to pass, Ben and Rey are wrapped in each others’ arms. Their breathing is frantic, their hands moving over the other’s body, trying to absorb and memorize each detail in the time they have left. 

Rey is sobbing.

“I failed you. I failed us! It’s my fault, I’m so-”

“No, no, shh, it’s not,” Ben is speaking quickly, kissing every part of her his lips can touch between words.

“I looked back! Ben I-”

“Look at me,” he says firmly, cradling her face between his hands. “Rey, look at me.”

Her hazel eyes are red-rimmed from crying, but the tears make her eyes look like precious stones.

“It’s not your fault,” Ben says with a steadiness he didn’t know her could muster. “If I hadn’t left, you would have never had to come here.”

“Still-”

“Don’t blame yourself. Please, don’t. There’s no point.” He wavers now: “That’s… not how I want to spend this time with you.”

He had made it without shedding tears, until now. But acknowledging that this was their last time together… Tears course down his cheeks as he presses Rey to his chest, his arms holding on with desperation, pretending that the strength of his body might be enough to stay here, with her, forever.

He presses his lips to her hair, kissing her while trying to memorize her scent. He’d never known that sunshine could have a smell, until he met Rey. 

He can make out her sobs, vibrating through him, as she cries in his arms.

“Ben… Ben, I don’t want to lose you again.”

He flinches at ‘again’. He is the one who left, who had lost faith first. But wallowing in that can come later. Now, he takes hold of her shoulders, guiding her to look into his eyes once more. He smoothes the flyaway strands of her hair away from her forehead.

“I will always be yours,” he says, his voice hard and sure. “Always. Rey, I will love you forever. Never forget that.”

His voice falters when he adds, “Just… don’t forget me, okay?”

Her lips are on his in an instant. They cling to each other like it’s the last time. And, somehow, they both realize that it is.

Rey kisses every part of his face, breathing out “I love you” between each kiss.

“It’s time. I’m sorry.”

The goddess’ voice is soft, regretful. She takes position next to Ben. “Rey,” she says, “I will watch over him. You have my word.”

Rey nods shakily, eyes focused on Ben, cataloguing every detail of him.  _ I’ll never forget you _ , she thinks.

He is looking at her with an expression that says,  _ I know. _

Rey walks backwards this time, creeping up and towards the light, to the mortal world. She keeps staring at Ben, even after the dark closes in around him. Even after he and the goddess fade away, returned to the underworld.

And Rey, bathed in the light of a rising sun, feels nothing but cold.


	3. It's A Love Song

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What if... this time it ended well?

She can feel the doubt creeping in, with every step in the dark.

It should be simple - to walk a path from A to B - but it’s the hardest thing she’s ever done. To trust in what she cannot see.

_ Who am I? Who am I to think he would follow me into the cold and dark again? Why would He let us go? _

These thoughts turn over and over in her mind. The darkness begins to yield to grey, until slowly (and all at once) there is light ahead.

Rey stops with her foot on the first step of the stairs that will lead them out of the underworld.

Them? Or just her?

She is frozen, but her heart races. There is a large part of her that wants to turn back and look for him. She can feel her body beginning to turn, her right shoulder moving and guiding her back-

“No!”

She screams and sprints up the stairs. She sobs, tears pouring down her face, as the light washes over her. She runs through the field of budding wildflowers, heart pounding so hard that it’s the only thing she can hear. Until…

“Rey, wait!”

The shock of his voice brings her to her knees. It’s abrupt, hard and painful, but all she can think is  _ don’t look back, don’t look back. _

As she tries to catch her breath, she can sense footsteps coming towards her. She slams her eyes shut and grips the earth with her hands.  _ Don’t look… What if it’s a trick? _

“Rey…”

A large, warm hand touches her face. She leans into it without thought. Another hand comes to cradle her other cheek. She knows these hands, has felt them in every part of her, always so gentle, always so…

“Ben?”

Her voice is scarcely a whisper. She feels his breath on her face. With a burst of realization, her eyes pop open. Ben kneels in front of her, surrounded by the light of a new spring.

He’s  _ in front _ of her.

“Did… we did it?” Her voice is raw. “We passed the test?”

He is crying too and she can feel his hands shaking as he holds her face.

“I’m coming with you.” His face breaks into a blinding smile. “Rey, I’m coming too.”

He’s barely done speaking when she lunges towards him, her kiss messy and unrefined. It’s bruising lips and teeth and desperation, but he responds in kind. They cling to each other, crying and kissing. The desperation gives way to relief, then a still sense of peace.

Ben pulls back first, but only to rest his forehead against hers. Against Rey, the woman who went to hell and back again - for  _ him _ . They stay together, quietly breathing each other in. He watches as her eyes open, her hazel gaze meeting him.

“What do we do now?” she asks.

Ben smiles and kisses her deeply. It’s a promise, he thinks. A promise of forever. The kiss ends and he stands, offering his hand to her.

“Now,” he says with a roguish grin, “now, we  _ live _ .”

Her smile outshines the sun as she accepts his hand. She tucks herself into his side and he wraps his arm around her shoulder.

They walk together, side by side, towards the horizon. 

Neither of them looks back.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a year since I had my heart broken by TROS and since I got my "Ben Solo lives" tattoo on my ribs.
> 
> This story is a gift for my lovely friend Arezou, but it's also a love letter (or note, it's kinda short) to all of my fellow Reylos. Our community and hope and love - even when beaten down - is rare and powerful.
> 
> Thank you for reading. 
> 
> PS - I will be finishing up my Day I Die fic in the coming weeks, I promise!


End file.
